March 1, 2023 – luchablog

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 02/27/2023 Arena Puebla [Porra Fresa]
1) Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika b Dark Soul & Rencor
2) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Full Metal, Mercurio, Pierrothito
Shockercito beat Mercurio and challenged for the CMLL MINI.
3) Black Tiger, Millenium, Rey Samuray b Akuma, Dark Magic, Raider
4) Felino, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Bucanero beat Sagrado to set up a MEX HEAVY title match next week.
5) Atlantis, Averno, Stigma b Gran Guerrero, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Panterita Jr. replaced Valiente on Monday afternoon. Averno beat Gran Guerrero via mask pull.

CMLL (TUE) 02/28/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Polvora b Shockercito & Último Dragóncito
2) Astral, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Satánico b Black Tiger [lightning]
4) Adrenalina (Jalisco), Ángel Rebelde, Crixus, Explosivo (Jalisco), Fantástico, Vaquero Jr. (Jalisco) b Hijo de Centella Roja, Millenium, Multy, Perverso, Prayer, Rey Samuray [Torneo de Escuelas, semifinal]
Guadalajara vs Puebla. Order of elimination: Perverso (via Vaquero), Prayer (Explosivo), Fantastico (Milenium), Adrenalina (Hijo del Centella Roja), Explosivo (Multifacetico), Vaquero Jr. (Rey Samuray), Multy (Crixus), Millenium (Angel Rebelde), Angel Rebelde (Rey Samuray), Rey Samuray (Crixus) leaving Crixus and team Guadalajara the winners.
5) Euforia, Mephisto, Niebla Roja b Atlantis, Esfinge, Star Black
Star Black replaced Valiente on Monday afternoon.

The Torneo de Escuelas match on Friday was great. The one Tuesday was not great. The wrestlers looked like rookies, with some big mistakes, and didn’t show much personality. The Jalisco team was the more solid of the two, but the Comarca Lagunera team was easily more impressive than both. The crowd never got into this, which made parts of it suffer more; the ending between Crixus and Rey Samuray felt even longer because it was met with indifference. Back when Puebla streamed, Rey Samuray would frequently go for a ramp running springboard 450 splash and rarely would he land it cleanly. He’s had a while longer to perfect it and still double-stomped Angel Rebelde in the face because he couldn’t make that final rotation. (He then also struggled on his next big spot.) This match was designed to be Samuray’s big chance, and it didn’t work out for him on this night.

Angel Rebelde is said to have lost a tooth but otherwise is fine.

The Guadalajara victory promo doesn’t feel victorious. It feels like Satanico loudly explained his thoughts about how they did before the promo took place.

Not much for the rest of the show. Satanico was moving faster than Black Tiger, though not what I’d call fast for either of them.

CMLL (TUE) 02/28/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Martes de Glamour]
1) Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor b Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Ponzoña Jr.
2) Demonio Maya, Gallero, Nitro b Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
3) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
4) Brillante Jr., Cachorro, Halcón Suriano Jr. b Barboza, Draego, Persa
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Leo, Omar Brunetti, Principe Daniel
6) La Jarochita & Lluvia b Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis

The women did get the main event, though it doesn’t appear to have gone long. Not much to this show, as far as I saw.

CMLL (SAT) 03/04/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Chamuel, Micro Ángel, Periquito Sacaryas
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita vs Hera, Olympia, Tiffany
3) Capitán Suicida, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. vs El Felino Jr., Kráneo, Pólvora
4) Dulce Gardenia vs El Coyote [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo vs Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr.

Dulce Gardenia and Capitan Suicida filter back in. Dulce/Coyote would be fun if we could see it. Gemelo Diablo II (maybe) appears back from injury.

CMLL (SUN) 03/05/2023 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Full Metal & Pequeño Violencia
2) Leono, Retro, Sangre Imperial vs Dr. Karonte I, Inquisidor, Príncipe Odín Jr.
3) Flyer, Robin, Volcano vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Fugaz vs Pólvora [lightning]
5) Dark Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr., Star Black vs Hijo del Villano III, Misterioso Jr., Rey Bucanero
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Rocky Romero vs Ángel de Oro, Oráculo, Templario

Lots of rudo/rudo main events, but that happens when there are a lot of rudos in the upcoming big match.

Mas Lucha has an interview with Hijo del Octagon from Sunday, where he explained his injury that took place Saturday. He had a minor knee injury in training, and then the knee just gave out three moves into his match. He wanted to keep going but could not. Surgery is a possibility; CMLL’s doctors were to examine him on Monday. Hijo del Octagon posted an instagram video from that exam but didn’t have an update. It’s an odd situation because he’s a guest wrestler, but it does sound like CMLL is taking care of him.

Faby Apache confirmed she’s out of CMLL at the moment in an interview with Blog de La Lucha. This interview was at the KAOZ/AOZA Saltillo show which appeared to be the source of the tension to start with; she obviously still worked it. (Tiffany was listed and did not appear.) Faby says CMLL didn’t want her to work with certain luchadors, but she’s a woman of her word – she committed to working this Saltillo show and so she wasn’t going to pull out of it. Faby also wants to freedom to work with whomever she wants, even on an AAA show. That wasn’t going to work for CMLL. Apache teased appearing more often in the US.

CMLL , NJPW (TUE) 02/28/2023 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan [NJPW, NJPW World] Attendance: 1383
1) Capitán Suicida & Yotu Nakashima b Kosei Fujita & Magia Blanca
4:58. Nakashima beat Fujita.
2) Tiger Mask b Hijo del Villano III
9:28. Tiger suplex. They shook hands after.
3) Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán b Hiroshi Tanahashi, Rey Cometa, Ryohei Oiwa, Satoshi Kojima
6:51. Tanahashi, Kojima and Oiwa painted their faces and wore headbands like Rey Cometa. Titan beat Oiwa with the springboard double stomp.
4) Dulce Gardenia b Okumura
7:15.
5) Soberano Jr. b Hechicero
13:34. Soberano submitted Hechicero with a heel hook.
6) El Desperado, Templario, Volador Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Master Wato, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
14:17. Volador beat Cavernario with a Destroyer.
7) Místico b Atlantis Jr.
16:02. Mistica on Atlantis. The roster came to the ring to celebrate the tour after the match.

A good ending to the tour. Mistico/Atlantis Jr. felt like a tour ender, though I thought Soberano/Hechicero was a bit better. The 4 Cometas was a nice Only In Fantastica Mania moment, and the semi-main had some good moments as well. Hijo del Villano III looked solid in his singles match, which is good news for him. Suicida finally got a win.

Not a lot to note on the All Star Festival show as far as CMLL wrestlers. Mistico got the direct win in his match, Volador & Desperador won in their match, and Soberano didn’t figure into the finish in the five way. Rocky Romero popped up in video form (from Mexico) to tease a similar Juniors-only show in the US, which means one will probably happen and will likely include CMLL participation.

CMLL Informa has Satanico & the Jalisco team, Angel de Oro, Virus, Stephanie Vaquer, La Catalina.

AAA

AAA is a press conference holding mood. They held once Monday evening to promote the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey show. Five matches, a good chunk of the card, were announced:

Copa TripleMania is back, yet again. AAA continues to try different concepts for these. This one will be a Mexico City versus Monterrey theme. Toscano was announced as the first Monterrey participant. It’ll be a 5 vs 5 match in total.
Another 10 men will be in a cage match, where the last two left in the cage will have a mask match on the same night. This is the same format that saw Flammer unmask Chik Tormenta in Tijuana last year. The ten wrestlers will be Laredo Kid, Antifaz del Norte, Octagon Jr., Villano III Jr., Argenis, Myzteziz Jr., Aerostar, Parka Negra, Dralistico and Taurus
- The idea is you’ll see one of these midcard feuds (or Dralistico and Taurus) finally resolve in a mask match, though the format means that is not guaranteed to happen.
- Laredo Kid & Antifaz del Norte appeared at the press conference and briefly brawled.
The TripleMania Guerra de Rivalidades first round matches were set
- Blue Demon & DMT Azul versus Rush & a partner to be named later
  - Pagano is officially out of this match due to his surgery; Rush’s new partner will be announced at a later time.
  - I’m not entirely clear what happens if Rush & his partner lose, if that means Pagano is back in when healthy or if the replacement partner goes the whole way.
- Alberto el Patron & Pentagon Jr. versus Psycho Clown & Sam Adonis
  - Alberto appeared at the press conference complaining the Mexican wrestlers like Pentagon Jr. play to the crowd too much
  - Alberto has a spot where he begs the crowd to chant Si before he hits someone

The rest of the card will be announced at another press conference in March. AAA didn’t seem to announce how many matches the would be (or I didn’t catch it.) They ran ten last year, with two of them dark matches. AAA additionally announced they’ll return to running events at the Showcenter return in May. No more details were given, and shouldn’t be expected until after the TripleMania show.

The card as is doesn’t look impressive. The tag matches have big names but the matches themselves don’t look particularly exciting as is; at best, the Demon/Azul/Rush one could be a glorious mess. AAA cage matches are usually a mess. A good singles match could come out of it, but I’m not sure AAA trusts any two of those guys to have a big singles match without doing a lot of interference (as they did with Flammer/Tormenta last year.) Copa TripleMania is whatever. AAA still has a least a Vikingo match to add so this will look more interesting. Right now, it’s good if you’re excited about Alberto returning to AAA and not much otherwise.

AAA books Albeto because he’s an easy guy to get booked on talk shows promoting events. He was doing the rounds in Monterrey on Tuesday, saying they had a goal of 20,000 fans at TripleMania Monterrey. I’m not sure that set up can fit 20,000 without opening more seats but it doesn’t matter.

Fans on social media dearly want LA Park to be announced as Rush’s partner, as does Rush himself. It’s the best move for interest, though it may set up problems down the road if fans get upset when that team doesn’t advance. (Then again, it is not like AAA to worry about problems down the road.) I still think it’s that Demon/Azul duo destined for the final, so they need to lose here. It’s likely Psycho & Sam in the other one, though I’m less certain the more I think about. I don’t think they’re the final two, but I do think that match is happening, so why not make it happen in Tijuana instead? They’re going to need a main event for that one too. I’d bet on Antifaz losing his mask in the cage match.

A pattern in these Alberto appearances is he talks as though he hasn’t wrestled in Mexico since the pandemic. He never brings up Nacion Lucha Libre and talks about how there’s nowhere else he’d like to wrestle for than the #1 Latin America promotion, Lucha Libre AAA. Some of that is just his politician style of pumping up whoever he’s working with, which has worked out well for him over the years – of course he’s going to say AAA is the best when he’s working with them. Putting Nacion Lucha Libre in the memory hole while that logo is still showing up on AAA posters doesn’t add up; why would he want it there if he’s trying to pretend it didn’t happen? Maybe it’s not his call?

AAA was part of another press conference on Wednesday, hyping up The World is a Vampire show. Vamprio and Kerry Morton appeared. I only caught a piece of it; Billy Corgan mentioned the NWA is recording the wrestling portion for later use and would share it would AAA, which sounded like AAA is not filming it. That is again the difference between the business of US and Mexico wrestling at the moment: the NWA is going to tape everything because they think they may monetize it, and AAA is only going to tape what they have to tape to fulfill existing TV deals.

Corgan said all the right things about wanting this to be a yearly thing, maybe with the concern to maybe separate if it makes sense for everyone. I think the press conference was also supposed to be the schedule announcement, but that got out early. The NWA/AAA show is broken up over two blocks, each a less than an hour. I still have no idea who Kerry Morton was wrestling; no one seemed to report it. I’m sure it’ll be explained later.

AAA also announced a 04/08 show in Acapulco at Arena GNP, the same arena they ran the Noche de Campeones show back in December. It’s just a regular five match spot show with Alberto, who is obviously around for more than just two matches announced so far. I don’t know that card will draw any better in that big building, but it’s probably a AAA sold show and all the same to them. It’s not listed as a TV taping and I don’t believe it is one; AAA is scheduled to tape TV in San Luis Potosi on the same night. No lineup for that one yet; the local promoter keeps announcing names and that lineup should be out any moment.

Blue Demon Jr. says he’ll start his retirement tour when he reaches 40 years of wrestling. That would be July 2025, and he will be 59 years old. There’s no mention of how long that retirement tour will last. He also says the third-generation Blue Demon will debut before he retires.

This is late, but I think I figured out why AAA skipped airing a new episode back on 02/18. They had four weeks of TV (Merida, the military show) and five weeks before the next taping (World Cup), so they had to skip a week somewhere. The useful part of this is the World Cup will start airing quick – like 6 days later – if you want to watch it but really don’t want to buy it.

Other News

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Box y Lucha 3540 has too many things on the cover for me to write.

Komander makes his AEW tonight on Dynamite. If he does well, and I think he will do well, I still wouldn’t expect him to be a regular in AEW. It’s tough for most people who are actually signed to be a regular in AEW at this moment, and Komander’s booked on two other continents in upcoming weeks. I am fairly certain this won’t be his last appearance in the wider Tony Khan sphere, but it may be tough to get him dates right away.

04/01 The Wrld on Lucha

Sports Illustrated has an interview with Micro Man. A lot covers the ground you probably already know, training to be a luchador under Ultimo Guerrero. There is a bit more: Micro Man says he and his father KeMonito “have struggled to form a relationship”, never wanted to be a mascot, and didn’t want to talk about his father.

A profile of Welcome to Mi Barrio’s Bellako. And of Dragon Kid from Vanguardia. And also a random Axel one with no news peg.

A luchador named Halcon Purprua appeared on talkshow Rocio saying his wife wants him to quit lucha libre due to anxiety. I don’t have any matches in my database for a wrestler name Halcon Purpura.

Day: March 1, 2023

Fantastica Mania wraps up, TripleMania Monterrey card announcements, Torneo de Escuelas